This invention relates to an articulated hinge for mounting a door leaf or flap at the carcass of a piece of furniture from whose carcass walls a frame protrudes at right angles which narrows the clear or unobstructed door opening of the piece of furniture. The frame is partially covered in the closed position of the door by the engaged door leaf. The hinge comprises a carcass-related part adapted to be connected to the edge surface of the frame confining the clear or unobstructed door opening and offset inwardly with respect to the supporting or carcass wall. The hinge furthermore comprises a door-related part adapted to be connected to the door or door-flap and pivotally connected to the carcass-related part by means of a link mechanism, with the door-related part being in the form of a cup adapted to be inserted into a fitting recess in the backside of the door flap and to be connected to the latter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,652 discloses a mounting element which permits the pivotal connection of doorflaps by means of customary articulated hinges at the frame of pieces of furniture of the above-described type. In order to attach the mounting elements known from this patent, recesses have to be milled into the frame at the connecting point, which represents an undesirable additional work step.
In order to eliminate this work step a hinge has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,290,167, issued Sept. 22, 1981 to the assignee of this application. This hinge can be connected on the carcass side to the edge surface of the frame confining the clear or unobstructed door opening. The necessary adjustment of the overlap of the closed door flap on the front face of the frame is realized in this hinge by arranging an adjustment or displacement plate between the actual carcass-related part of the hinge and the edge surface of the frame. Complementary inclined ramp surfaces are provided on the surfaces of the adjustment plate and of a flange plate serving for connecting the carcass-related part to the frame, where these two surfaces face each other.
By varying the position of the adjustment plate and the flange plate relative to each other, i.e. by displacement of the adjustment plate relative to the fixed flange plate in the direction of the longitudinal extension of the frame surface the measure of overlap of the door on the frame front face can be varied, since the complementary ramp surfaces then slide up and down with respect to each other and the flange plate is lifted off the frame edge surface or approaches the same, respectively. The connection of the carcass-related part is effected by two connecting screws which pass through the flange plate and the adjustment plate and are screwed into the frame edge surface. When it is desired to change the amount of overlap of the door flap the connecting screws are loosened and after displacement of the adjustment plate tightened again. Since the flange plate of the carcass-related part is screwed directly to the frame by the connecting screws, i.e. since there is no separate mounting plate interposed as was the case with the customary hinges for frameless cabinets, upon frequent adjustment and readjustment of the door flap over a period of time, the threaded bores receiving the connecting screws may wear out and the screws may work themselves out of the frame so that the carcass-related part tends to become loose. The arrangement of the adjustment plate between the carcass-related part and the frame edge face necessarily interferes with the arrangement of the pivot points for the link mechanism on the carcass side and thereby prevents achieving a large amount of overlap.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an articulated hinge of a piece of furniture with an inwardly protruding front frame, which can be connected directly to the frame without having to provide recesses in the frame while providing for the adjustment of the amount of overlap of the door flap at the frame without requiring loosening of the carcass-related part.